[Comparison of fasting glucose and oral glucose tolerance tests in diagnosis of diabetes mellitus in liver cirrhosis]

Diabetes mellitus [DM] and glucose intolerance are commonly associated with liver cirrhosis and considered as important prognostic factors in liver cirrhosis. To determine the more sensisitive test for diagnosis of diabetes mellitus in liver cirrhosis. A total of 92 patients with liver cirrhosis were enrolled in a descriptive-analytic study. The levels of FBS and blood sugar two hours after ingestion of 75gr glucose [OGTT] were measured. FBS and 2-hPG concentrations were analysed for all subjects. Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were used to analyse the data and p values <0.05 were considered as significant. A total of 92 cirrhotic cases with mean age of 54.1 +/- 14.1 years were enrolled in this study of which 51 cases were males [55.4%] and 41 females [44.6%]. Using FBS measurement test, DM was diagnosed in 14 subjects [15.2%], impaired fasting glucose [IFG] in 16 subjects [17.4%], and normal fasting glucose in 62 subjects [67.4%]. However, when OGTT was employed, DM found to be present in 36 subjects [39.1%] impaired glucose tolerance [IGT] in 26 subjects [28.3%], and normal glucose tolerance [NGT] in 30 subjects [32.6%]. Comparison of FBS and OGTT [as gold standard test] showed that there was a significant difference between two tests [p<0.001]. The sensitivity of FBS test to diagnose DM was 46.7% with a specificity of 96.7%. The P.P.V and NPV were 96.7% and 46.7%, respectively. The FBS cut off was estimated at 83.50 mg/dl. The determination of FBS level seems to be insufficient in detecting DM in patients with liver cirrhosis. Thus, in addition to FBS measurement, the OGTT, as a routine test for cirrhosis, is recommended

Cutaneous application of menthol 10% solution on temporal area in acute treatment of common migraine

Migraine as the most popular vascular headache was always been the topic of discussion in the medical literatures. Regarding the theories underlying pathophysiology of migraine, various methods for treatment of this disorder have been proposed. Menthol is the most important active agent in peppermint and various mechanisms of action for it have been proposed till now, many of them focused on it's analgesic effect through TRPMs, a group of the transient receptor protein TRP. In previous interventional studies also, a solution of peppermint extract in ethanol significantly reduced the clinical tension type headache intensity. Regarding numerous therapeutic effects of menthol, we performed this study to evaluate the effect of cutaneous application of menthol on reducing headache intensity in migraine acute attacks. Twenty five female patients enrolled in this interventional uncontrolled study. They all used the 10% menthol solution the way they were informed. During the consumption, they filled out some questionnaires containing information about intensity of headache and associated symptoms. Within 33 well recorded attacks of migraine, 50% relief of pain occurred after 1.85 hours and sustained pain-free efficacy was achieved after 6.76 hours. Seventy one percent of migraine patients who had nausea/vomiting and 43% of those who were suffering from photophobia and photophobia associated with headache became symptom-free after 2 hours. This study demonstrates that cutaneous consumption of 10% menthol in ethanol solution is well tolerated by the patients and relives the pain and associated symptoms. However, further controlled studies are needed to confirm these observations

Antiviral effect assay of twenty five species of various medicinal plants families in Iran

Medicinal plants have been traditionally used for different kinds of ailments including infectious diseases. There is an increasing need for substances with antiviral activity since the treatment of viral infections with the available antiviral drugs often lead to the problem of viral resistance. There is a need to search for new and more effective antiviral agents, therefore in the present study 25 plants with ethno-medical background from different families were screened for antiviral activity against HSV-1, Adenovirus type 5, Echovirus type 11, Measles virus and Rotavirus. Different parts of the plants collected from Iran were extracted with aqueous solvents to obtain crude extracts. These extracts were screened for their cytotoxicity against Vero, BSC-1, Hep-II and RD cell lines by micro-culture neutral red dye absorption and microscopically follow up for CPE. Antiviral properties of the plant extracts were determined by cytopathic effect inhibition assay and plaque reduction assay. Four plants extract; Nymphea alba, Rhus coriaria L., Chelidonium majus and Terminalia chebula Retz exhibited significant antiviral activity against HSV-1 and adenovirus type 5 at non-toxic concentration. The extracts of Chelidonium majus showed great anti viral activity against HSV-1 and partial activity against adenovirus at higher concentrations. Some of the medicinal plants have shown antiviral activity. Further research is needed to elucidate the active constituents of these plants which may be useful in the development of new and effective antiviral agents